Mad Over Donuts!!

A lovely box of donuts can brighten a day, is what is the mantra of the new upcoming stores like m.o.d ( mad over donuts) and dunkin donuts, which are known to have made a special place in the food industry recently in this decade.

Doughnuts or more precisely now called as donuts, could be categorized either into a dessert food or a fried confectionery. This deep- fried lip smacking snack is typically either a ring shape, which may have a hole or might be filled. donuts may be topped or flavored with a huge variety of flavors like chocolate, maple glazing, cinnamon or granulated sugar.

The donuts are known to have their origin in 19th century by dutch people in the North America, which at that time were referred to as oliekoek,which means ” a sweetened cake fried in oil” or “oil cake”. The ring shaped doughnut is known to have its history traced back to 1847, where an American named Hanson Gregory invented the ring-shaped doughnut when he was actually only 16 years old.

Today, the donuts might be shaped into a different kind which might include rings, balls or flattened spheres, which might either be twisted or given some other form. But the two most common types of donuts which are popular are- the toroidal ring donut and the filled or filler donut, which have fillings like fruits, creams and custards to give them a sugary sweet effect.

The donuts are actually prepared from the yeast based dough, which contains a good amount of oil which are fried for a good amount of time at a temperature of near about 374 to 388 F. After this frying process is over, topping is done with either granulated sugar, cinnamon, maple glazing or sometimes might have some sprinkled coconut, chopped peanuts or jimmies on them, in order to enhance the taste.

In India, the wonderful savory vada , is often referred to as the Indian doughnut which is a fried, ring shaped snack often taken with curd, known as the dahi-vada or can be taken along with the sambhar and coconut chutney. This vada is prepared from dal or potato flour and not from the wheat flour.

In Indonesia, donut kentangis a ring-shaped fritter which is made up of mashed potato and flour, which is then coated with the icing sugar.

In Israel, jelly donuts which are known as sufganiyah is the traditional food which is cooked in oil, filled with jelly and topped with icing sugar. In Australia, the hot jam donuts which are popular and unique in the Australian culture, these are served with hot red jam which may be either strawberry or raspberry is injected or filled into the deep fried bun and is then frosted with either sugar or cinnamon, sometimes these jam donuts are also frozen. Another variant of this donut, comes filled with custard.

Some interesting facts about donuts-

1. Donut king is the largest donut retailer in Australia.

2. A Guinness Book Of Records has the record with the largest number of donuts made up for 90,000 people in Sydney in the year 2007 as a part of celebration for the movie, The Simpsons Movie.

3. Canadians consume the highest number of donut, with also the highest number of donut stores per capita in the country.

4. National Doughnut Day is celebrated to commemorate the history of donuts and their popularity in different cultures. dedicated to this is a race held in Stanton, Illinois which features donuts and is called Tour de Donut.

Recipe For crispy and creamy donut-

1. 0.25 ounce dried yeast

2. 1/4 cup warm water

3. 2 eggs

4. 1 tsp salt

5. 1 1/2 cup lukewarm milk

6. 1/2 cup white sugar

7. 5 cup all purpose flour

8. 1/3 cup butter

9. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

10. 1 quart vegetable oil for frying

11. 1/3 cup shortening

12. 2 cups confectioners sugar

sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let it stand until it turns foamy. In a large bowl, mix together the yeast mixture, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening and 2 cups of flour. Stir the mixture and beat in the remaining 1/2 cup of flour at a time, until no more dough sticks to the bowl. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, until the dough is smooth. Place this dough in a greased bowl and cover it. Set it into a warm place, until it gets double.

Turn the dough on a surface covered with flour, and roll out a dough of 1/2 inch, cut the flour with doughnut cutter. Let the doughnut rise to double, and cover it loosely with cloth. Melt butter in a pan, stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla until smooth. Remove the mixture from heat, stir in 1 tbsp water. Set it aside.

Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 350 F, slide in the donuts in the hot oil. Turn the donuts over the other side and fry them till they turn golden brown on both the surfaces. Remove from the oil, and drain from the hot oil. Dip the donuts in the glaze, while they are still hot and drain of the excess glaze.